Beer lovers say there's nothing better than making it yourself

Friday

Mar 27, 2009 at 12:01 AMMar 27, 2009 at 11:12 AM

If 10 guys gather in a garage on a Sunday afternoon, it’s a good bet that beer will be involved. What made the gathering March 9 at Mark Sheftick’s home in west Springfield unusual is they weren’t there just to drink beer. The guys were there to make it.

Dan Naumovich

If 10 guys gather in a garage on a Sunday afternoon, it’s a good bet that beer will be involved.

What made the gathering March 9 at Mark Sheftick’s home in west Springfield unusual is they weren’t there just to drink beer. The guys were there to make it.

Like the car enthusiast who just can’t help but tinker under the hood, these home-brewers have figured out what goes into a good beer, and now they’re concocting their own. They’re equal parts chemist, chef and regular ol’ beer lover.

Homemade alcoholic beverages make many people think of moonshining. But those expecting to see a still would be disappointed at the equipment that was spread out on Sheftick’s driveway. There was some coiled copper tubing, used as a cooling apparatus, but most of the other tools of the trade could be found in many homes: turkey-frying burners, paint buckets, Rubbermaid coolers, thermometers and stainless steel pots.

Home-brewing became easier in most states in 1979, when President Jimmy Carter signed a bill lifting some federal restrictions that had been left over from Prohibition (it’s up to individual states to decide whether to allow home-brewing). Sheftick, a forensic diagrammer for the Illinois State Police, doesn’t have to worry about revenuers smashing up his works and hauling him off to the pokey.

There’s also no need to worry that drinking home-brew is hazardous. David Smalley, a Springfieldian and research director at Blackburn College in Carlinville, has been brewing for 12 years. He said the threat of making a dangerous homemade beer is one of the hobby’s most common misconceptions.

“You can’t poison yourself by brewing a bad beer. It may taste bad, but it won’t kill you no matter how bad you mess it up,” he said.

Not only will you survive, Sheftick said, but if you can follow instructions, it’s unlikely you’ll even make a bad beer.

“In all the time we’ve been doing this, I can only remember one that was really horrible,” he said of one batch that failed to carbonate and was left overly sweet.

According to Brew Your Own magazine, about 1 million Americans make beer at home. It’s a craft that can be done at varying degrees of difficulty — similar to the difference between baking a cake from scratch and using a cake mix.

Sheftick’s approach falls somewhere in the middle.

He and Justin Roth of Springfield are old high school friends who brew under the name Red Cobblers. They practice a craft known as extract brewing. It’s a process in which concentrated malt extract is added to water and boiled with hops to create a liquid called a wort. After boiling for 60 to 90 minutes, the wort is cooled quickly to bring it to room temperature.

It’s then poured into a container that’s sealed after yeast is added. The mixture is allowed to ferment for one to two weeks. Sugar is added during bottling to reactivate the yeast and create carbonation.

Sheftick and Roth tend to brew by the seats of their pants, using whatever ingredients they have on hand. They’re not overly concerned with the final product, as long as it tastes good.

Brian Phillips of Southern View is much more calculating in his brewing approach.

Phillips, a 47-year-old botanist, uses a software program to help create beers to his specifications and to track things such as alcohol content and bittering units. He’s constantly seeking perfection with each brewing session.

“I keep trying to improve my base stout and my base ale, and then from there I can make changes and try other things,” he said.

Phillips is an all-grain brewer, a more extensive process. Unlike extract brewing, the all-grain brewer mills his own grains and then soaks them in hot water. That allows the starch to convert into sugar, and it also extracts color and flavor. This process, called mashing, requires quite a bit more time and equipment, and he doesn’t recommend it for beginners.

“You don’t jump right in and do all-grain brewing,” he said. “If you start out with a kit, it’s easy and inexpensive and you can find out if you like to do it.”

Getting organized

Part of the appeal of home-brewing as a hobby is the varying degrees of involvement it affords.

While Phillips devotes a great deal of time to brewing, he marks his bottles with a simple sticker on the cap identifying the beer’s style. Sheftick, on the other hand, likes to get creative and design labels. He also dubs his beers with distinctive names. His most recent beer is called Tornado Ale, in honor of the climatic event that occurred on the day it was brewed.

Sheftick, Roth and Phillips are members of the Prairie Schooners — a group of local home-brewers that recently started up again after several years of inactivity. Members meet monthly at the Brewhaus to share brewing stories, offer advice and sample each other’s libations.

Mike Parkes, Brewhaus owner, doesn’t have any qualms about letting members of the group bring in their own beer to sample. For one, they still purchase readily from his stock of 300 different beers (the Dogfish 60 Minute IPA on tap is a particular favorite). He also sees his support as helping to further a culture of beer appreciation in Springfield.

“They’re continuing a craft,” Parkes said of the Schooners. “The group disappeared for a while, and we were worried about this town. But every meeting gets bigger and bigger.”

Around 30 home-brewers gathered for the March 12 meeting. Phillips used the occasion to get the word out on the Big Brew, a national observance of home-brewers that encourages them to gather in their communities and brew communally. This year’s Big Brew will be May 2. The Schooners are still working to determine a location and hope to accommodate up to 50 home-brewers.

The group also discussed establishing a more organized method for sampling during meetings, so that each brewer could describe his beer and brewing method and then take comments or questions from the others.

Chris Mehuys, an Illinois Department of Transportation engineer from Chatham, brought along some stout to share, along with some curious-looking vegetation: stems from hop plants, called rhizomes. Hops are used in beer for bitterness, flavor and aroma.

Mehuys offered the rhizomes to other group members so that they can grow their own hops, cutting down on their expenses and adding a “locavore” element to their beer.

Springfield doesn’t have an ideal climate for growing hops — the summers get too hot — but Mehuys said the perennial is a hearty plant that yields up to two pounds a year. A batch of beer requires between two and four ounces.

From garage to market?

While the Prairie Schooners are free to brew their own beer and grow their own hops, none of them are licensed to sell their beer commercially. Kevin Brown, a computer programmer from Leland Grove and a home-brewer since 1990, wishes someone would.

“Springfield is in desperate need of a brew pub,” he said.

Although he appreciates places such as the Brewhaus and its wide selection of beers, he says a brew pub offers a different experience for the beer lover.

“There’s nothing like drinking beer that was made 20 feet from where you’re sitting and has probably only been on tap for a day. You can’t beat it for freshness,” he said.

Making the jump from home-brewer to commercial craft brewer appeals to Brown. Most in the group, however, are happy keeping it at the hobby level. Even without the pressure of meeting customer expectations, the quest to brew the perfect beer can consume a person.

That’s why it’s best to consume it first.

There’s a mantra among home-brewers that was repeated several times during the brew session at Sheftick’s house. It comes from the author of one of the definitive books on the subject: If something goes wrong, or things don’t turn out as planned, there’s one simple solution that will assure a happy outcome.

“Relax. Don’t worry. Have a home-brew.”

Dan Naumovich is a freelance writer and the author of BlogFreeSpringfield. He can be reached at dan@naumo.com.

Join the club

The Prairie Schooners encourage anyone who home-brews or who wants to learn how to attend their monthly meetings.

“That’s the whole reason for doing this: Get people involved and introduce them to a new hobby. Just share the fun,” member Brian Phillips said.

Signs announcing the meeting time and date are posted at area businesses, including Friar Tuck and Famous Liquors, or people can contact Phillips at brian@southernviewbrew.com for more information.

Group members are also planning beer and food pairings at local restaurants. Their first event was held in January. Kevin Brown worked with Charles and Limey’s to create the four-course menu, with each course complemented by a different beer.

“It’s open to anybody who likes good food and good beer,” Brown said. “I also think anyone who likes good wine would also appreciate this.”

According to state statutes, people in Illinois can make wine, cider, beer and other alcoholic beverages from fruits, vegetables or grains — as long as it is not distilled. Home-brewers can make beer for use by themselves, friends and family.

“Beer” means ale, stout, lager and other varieties of beer.

Things get more complicated if someone wants to sell beer. To open a brew pub, for example, a home-brewer would have to get a state license. That currently costs $1,050. A variety of other fees are required to become a beer brewer, sell beer as a retailer, and other tasks.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.